We strongly encourage those who are eligible to consider receiving an updated COVID-19 vaccine to provide better protection against currently circulating variants," said FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks. The agency's decision came a bit earlier than last year's rollout of updated COVID-19 vaccines, as a summer wave of the virus continues in most of the country.
Skipping the new shot is "a hazardous way to go," because even if your last infection was mild, your next might be worse or leave you with long COVID symptoms, said Dr. Robert Hopkins Jr. of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases.
This fall's vaccine recipe is tailored to a newer branch of omicron descendants. The Pfizer and Moderna shots target a subtype called KP.2 that was common earlier this year.
A Pfizer spokesman said the company submitted data to FDA showing its updated vaccine "generates a substantially improved response" against multiple virus subtypes.
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